‘Birdman’ and ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ Lead 2015 Oscar Nominations

Snubbing seems to happen every year, apparent front-runners don’t receive nominations and the list of nominations are questioned. No The Lego Movie in Best Animated Film. No Life Itself or The Overnighters in Best Documentary Feature. Ava DuVernay and David Oyelowo walk away empty-handed. Gone Girl left out of Best Picture, Best Director, and (strangest of all) Best Adapted Screenplay. Foxcatcher has good enough direction, acting and screenplay, but not good enough for a Best Picture nomination.

Sometimes the list of snubs can shine a light on a great year, which by all means 2014 was (or at the very least, 2014 was better than people think). We all knew that categories like Best Actor, Best Original Screenplay, Best Director, etc. were going to be tight races, so it’s too easy for one of our favorites to just miss the cut (like Jake Gyllenhaal).

Shifting to a positive note, Way Too Indie favorites Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel led the nominations with nine each. Boyhood received six nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and both supporting acting categories. Despite its snubs in all the other major categories, Selma was recognized with a Best Picture nomination. Ida, which was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film, also received a nomination for its stunning black-and-white cinematography. While we expected to see Force Majeure and Two Days, One Night on the list for Best Foreign Language Film, we’re equally happy to have Wild Tales and Leviathan. Meanwhile, Whiplash hauled in a whopping six nominations including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Editing, and Best Sound Mixing.

Finally, American Sniper, a film that didn’t seem to have much buzz, received six nominations. And somehow the dismal Angelina Jolie film Unbroken wound up with three nominations. Let us know what you think in the comments below!